Commercial Mortgage-Backed Bonds' Slow Return

The commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) market disappeared over the past few years when the credit crisis hit. The recession then made matters much worse, when businesses started having trouble making their mortgage payments. We recently learned that commercial mortgage delinquencies continued to climb in the first quarter. Yet, the market appears to be coming back -- though very slowly. There have been a few tiny deals, which were likely highly pristine. Here's a good description of the crawling-pace of the market's recovery, via the New York Times:

"Compared to a year or two ago we've come a long, long way," said Ross
Moore, an executive vice president of the real estate services firm Colliers International. "The fact there's even discussions
taking place -- that's a big step forward. Are we making progress toward
restarting the C.M.B.S. market? Yes, I think absolutely."

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Daniel Indiviglio was an associate editor at The Atlantic from 2009 through 2011. He is now the Washington, D.C.-based columnist for Reuters Breakingviews. He is also a 2011 Robert Novak Journalism Fellow through the Phillips Foundation.